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H. A. ISBERG. PORTABLE WOODEN BOOTH. No. 442,979.l Patented DOO.. 16

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UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFICE.

HANS ABRAHAM ISBERG, OF LONG ISLAND CITY, ASSIGN OR TO CHARLES FRED. HODSDON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PORTABLE WOODEN BOOTH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 442,979, dated December 16, 18290.

Application filed July l0, 1890. Serial No. 358287. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, Hans ABRAHAM IsBEEG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Long Island City, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Portable Vooden Booths; and the following is declared to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The object of iny invention is to provide voting-booths for use at polling-places during elections, as such booths are required by law in some States.

My 'invention consists in a booth that is made in connected sections that are readily folded together, and the saine are securely heldin a distended condition by a lockingshelf, and the booth is provided with a door the lower edge of which is about two feet above the floor, so that the lower part of the legs of the occupant can be seen.

My improved booth can be readily set up for use or knocked downwith the connected sections folded together, in which condition the booth occupies but a small space when packed for transportation or storage.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation, and Fig. 2 a vertical section, of my improved booth at the line .e z of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of the saine at the line or x, and Fig. 4 is a sectional plan at the line `y y. Fig. 5 is a plan View of the booth folded.

The sections ab c, composing three sides of the booth, are preferably about three feet wide and six feet long, and are each made of tongued and grooved boards vertically placed, and there are horizontal strips or frame-pieces d d at the opposite ends securing the boards and central horizontal strips or frame-pieces e upon the sections a and c, and a central horizontal strip or frame-piece c upon the The section b is made, as a whole, with the horizontal top and bottoni strips or fra1nepieces d d and horizontal central strip e', and I provide vertical strips or corner,

posts ff, to which the strips CZ, d', and c are inortised to forni a frame for the vertical tongued and grooved boards.

The front is made as a frame, having top and bottoni strips d d and vertical cornerposts g g connected together, and in the upper part of this frame a short-length door 7L is hinged at one side to one post g, and said door fits into the rabbeted edges of said corner-posts, and a lock or catch of any desired forni may be placed upon the door to secure the saine when shut; or spring-hinges may be employed. The lower edge of the door is about two feet above the floor, so that beneath it the legs of the occupant of the booth may be seen.

The sections ct and c, Vwhich are opposite each other, are made alike of two narrow ver-' The Vertical posts fj of the section b are connected to the posts t' and Z of the folding sections ct and c by inside hinges 4 5, and the vertical posts g g of the front are connected to the posts 7o and m of the folding sections (t and c also by inside hinges G 7.

The folding sections of a and c are counected by hinges 8. and 9 upon the outside.l These hinges I prefer to place on line with the horizontal strips. The parts fold in the direction of the dotted arrows.

The vertical meeting faces of the corner posts f f, t' fi', 7c 7c', g g, m m', and Z Z are ton gued and grooved, preferably, alongthe under edges, so that when the sections are opened to forni the booth there are no open' joints or cracks through which the occupant of the booth can be seen from the outside.

The upper edges of the strips c e of theside sections adjacent to the section b are preferably notched, and I provide a shelf n with notched ends, and said shelf fits into the notches of the strips e c. I prefer to make these notches as deep as the thickness of the shelf n, so that when the shelf is in place its surface will correspond with the top edges of the strips c c, and I prefer to make the strip c' of the section b of the sanne width as the strips ce, so that its top edge may correspond with the surface of the shelf, as thereby thereV IOO will be no space at the back of the shelf; or the top edge of the strip may be above the shelf, if desired. lVhen the shelf isin place, its weight is carried upon the strips e e, and the notched ends of the shelf bear against the faces of the said strips and serve to keep the sections composing the booth distended after being opened out. The shelf also provides a place for the voter to arrange his ticket upon.

These booths are designed for use at pollingplaces in times of elections as a place where each Voter can examine, mark, and arrange his ticket in secrecy, as provided by law in some States, the shelf n being a convenient and necessary addition to the booth for the uses herein set forth.

It will be noticed that it is but the work of a few minutes to set up or take down these booths, and that there are no parts that can become lost or misplaced, as the shelf is the only detachable piece going to make up the booth, and said shelf can be laid within the folded booth against the back Z1 between the strips e and d.

These booths are opened at the top and bottom, and the same are to be about six feet high, as required by law, and at this height no man of ordinary stature can look over the top. The frames of the sections c, l), and c, instead of being surfaced with tongued and grooved boards, may be surfaced with canvas or other similar fabric, in which case the voting-booth is made lighter in weight and equally efficient.

I claim as my inventionm l. The combination, with the frame forming the front and the short-length door, of the section l), the two-part sections a and c, hinges connecting the parts, and a shelf or brace for holding and locking the parts when distended, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the frame forming thc front and the short-length door, of the section l), composed of a frame, tongued and grooved boarded surface, the sections a and c, cach composed of two narrow frames, and tongued and grooved boarded surfaces, hinges upon the inner corners connecting the twopart sections a and c with the section b and with the front frame g, and hinges upon the outside connecting the two parts of the sections a and c, whereby the sections a and c fold in between the front and section substantially as set forth.

3. The combination., with the front frame and short-length door hinged thereto, of the section b, the two-part sections a and c, having central strips c e, notched upon their upper edges adjacent to the section Z), the shelf n, notched at its end corners and adapted to set upon and against the strips e c, and hinges connecting the various sections and front together, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, in a portable folding booth, of a front section having a frame and door, a back section and side sections, each having a frame and covering, hinges for unit ing all the sections together at their meeting edges, so that the sections will fold without being disconnected at any place, and a movable shelf, serving also to keep the sections in position when. in use, substantially as specified.

Signed by ine this 30th day of June, A. D. 1890.

ll. A. lbBERG.

Witnesses:

GEO. T. PINCKNEY, HAROLD SERRELL. 

